Substructure for railway-crossings.



W. P. DAY.

SUBSTRUGTURE FOR RAILWAY GROSSINGS.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 28, 1912. RENEWED JULY 9, 1913.

1,086,901 Patented Feb. 10, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W. P. DAY.

= SUBSTRUGTURE FOR RAILWAY oRosslNes.

IAPPLIOATION FILED AUG. 28, 1912. RENEWED JULY 9, 1913. 1,086,901. Patented Feb. 10, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ICnEL- wmmw W. P. DAY.

SUBSTRUOTURE FOR RAILWAY CROSSINGS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 28, 1912. RENEWED JULY 9, 1913.

1 86,901. Patented Feb. 10, 1914.

3 SHEETfl-SHEET ,3.

WILLIAM 1?. DAY, OF CLEVELAND,

OHIO.

SUBSTRUGTURE FOR RAILWAY-CROSSINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 10, 1914.

Application filed August 28, 1912, Serial No. 717,638. Renewed July 9, 1913. Serial No. 778,177.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. DAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Substructures for Railway-Crossings, of which the following is a specification.

To those familiar with the building of railroads, it is well known that one of the serious factors to be reckoned with by the engineer and by those interested in the maintenance of the railroad is the laying of crossings at the intersection of two or more tracks crossing each other at the same grade, and with a knowledge of these conditions, my invention has for its primary object a sub-structure for crossings which will be practically continuous and uninterrupted throughout the lengths of the crossing rails or frogs, whereby the entire crossing will be firmly supported at all points and capable of efiectively withstanding the excessive strains and shocks to which crossings are subjected, particularly on high speed roads.

Afurther object of the invention is an improved sub-structure for crossings which may be easily manufactured out of standard steel and shipped complete to the point where it is intended to lay it, the parts being so arranged that they may be easily reinforced by concrete to produce a firm and rigid foundation and so formed that the crossing structure may be quickly slipped into place and expeditiously fastened firmly to the sub-structure.

The invention has for a still further object an improved device of this character, the parts of which are so arranged that the wheels of a train on a track which is disposed at an oblique angle to the intersecting track, will move onto and from the crossing in a straight-way direction, whereby all tendency of unequal strains on the sub-structure and crossing rails supported thereby, will be avoided. And the invention also aims to generally improve devices of this class and to render them more useful and commercially desirable.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions, arrangements and combinations of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention,

reference is to be had to the following descrlption and accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating one form or embodiment of my improved sub structure for crossings. Fig. 2 isv a bottom plan view of one member or unit of the substructure. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through a portion thereof, showing a rail in section and the manner of securing the rail to the sub-structure. Fig. 4: is a fragmentary perspective view on an enlarged scale illustrating one of the keys for holding a rail locking member in place and the manner in which said key is formed of the metal punched from the chair or railsupporting plate to receive a rail-locking member. Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view to illustrate one of the corner braces of the device, and, Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating the manner in which the main line rails and the crossing rails or frogs are properly lined relative to ealch other, should one be higher than the ot 1er.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and designated in the accompanying drawings by like reference characters.

One of the units of my improved substructure for railway-crossings is designated in the accompanying drawings A as a whole, and is formed of structural steel filled in with concrete to produce a strong and rigid structure. In the present embodiment of the invention, it includes a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending rail-supporting plates 1, each of which is riveted or otherwise secured along its side edges to the upper flanges 2 of beams 3, said beams being formed of channel steel, in the present instance, although it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this form of beam. The beams 8 are secured at their ends by corner braces 4 to transversely extending channeled stay-beams 5, the corner braces being riveted thereto and the staybeams being also riveted to the ends of the rail-supporting plates 1.

To support therails of the track which intersects the track, the rails of which are supported on the plates 1, I provide transversely extending plates 6 which, in that embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, extend at oblique angles to the plates 1, in view of the fact that the device illustrated, is shown as intended for a crossing in which the rails of one track do not extend at right angles to the rails of the other track. These plates 6 are riveted attheir side edges to the upper flanges of channeled beams 7, the ends of said beams being secured by corner braces 8 to the intermediate longitudinal beams 8, the braces being riveted in Place.

It will thus be seen that this unit A is initially formed of'two main longitudinal members and two transversely extending members bridging the space between the longitudinal members, all of said members being of box-like or trough formation and being designed to be completely filled with concrete, whereb the unit, when laid, will be firm and rigi and well capable of withstanding the shocks and jars to which crossings, frogs or rails are constantly subjected. It is to be understood that where the crossing is at a point of intersection between a high speed roadand a low speed road, such, for example, as the intersection of a steam railroad with a trolley line in a town or village, the longitudinal members are laid underneath the rails of the high speed road and the bridging or transverse members underneath the rails which form part of the low speed road.

In order to still further reinforce the parts, the channel beams 3 are connected by any desired number of transversely extending braces 9 riveted to their lower flanges and in the preferred arrangement of these braces, those which are disposed at the ends of the beams 7 are extended over upon said beams and also riveted thereto, so as to assist the corner braces 8 in securing the beams 7 to the beams 3. The beams 7 are also reinforced by braces 10 extending transversely thereof and riveted to their lower flanges, all as best illustrated in Fig. 2.

In the application of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, there are two units A for the rails of one double track with their transversely extending plates 6 for one pair of rails of the intersecting track, and to brace the space between these units, I provide rail-supporting plates 11 which are secured to beams like the beams 3 and that are connected at their ends by stay-beams 12 like the beams 5. Fig. 1 illustrates an arrangement wherein one track intersects the other at an oblique angle. Consequently, it is important to provide means to prevent the wheels on one side of a train from moving onto or leaving the crossing before the wheels on the opposite side which, as is manifest, would subject the substructure and the rails or frogs supported thereby to unequal strains or twists. In order to avoid this, I provide tapering units B which are composed of rail-supporting plates 13 like the plates 1 and 11, and that are connected together by stay-beams 14 like the beams 5 and 12, the units B being so formed according to the particular angle at which one track intersects the other, that where they join the metallic ties C designed for the main line rails, they will be disposed exactly parallel to said metallic ties and the wheels on both sides of the train will simultaneously move onto and away from the crossing.

In order to secure the cross-over rails or frogs to the several units, which together comprise my improved sub-structure, I preferably employ rail fastening devices similar to those disclosed in my prior Letters Patent of the United States No. 949,926 and No. 969,611. These fasteners, generally speaking, comprise upper lugs 15 which are designed to extend over and engage the base flanges of the rails and lower lugs 16 which are designed to extend down into openings formed for them in the rail-supporting plates to engage the lower side of said plates.

The openings at one side of a rail are longer set of fastening devices may be slipped down into place, as indicated in Fig. 3, and be securely held therein by locking keys 17 driven downwardly back of the said fastening devices and in the enlarged portions 18 of the openings. In the preferred method of manufacture, I use for these keys 17, as best indicated in Fig. 4:, the same metal which is punched out of the rail-supporting plate to form the elongated opening for the rail fastening and a saving being thereby effected.

As the crossing is in itself a substantially integral structure and is slipped into place as a whole, it will be understood that the elongated openings in their relative disposition to the complemental openings will all lie on the same side of the rails. For the same reason, the bridging members of the unit A will have their plates 6 formed on both sides with sets of elongated openings.

From as much of the description as has preceded in connect-ion with the correlated views of the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided a very strong, firm and rigid sub-structure for railway crossings which will effectively support the crossing and prevent it from breaking down, which, as is well known to those interested in the upkeep of railroads, is one of the great-est sources of expense, owing to the fact that this part of a track is subjected to the severest strains and shocks.

In laying a sub-structure embodying the improvements of my invention, after the several units have been shipped to the point where it is intended to lay them, they are filled with concrete and ballast, as required by the particular circumstances of the case. The crossing structure is then laid and the rail fastening members 15 applied, the locking keys 1'? being finally driven into place to securely hold the rails.

It sometimes happens that a main line rail, where it joins a crossing rail or frog, is higher or lower than the latter, in which event, measures must be taken to compensate for the inequalities in height. Fig. 6 of the drawings illustrates one method of effecting this compromise, as it is called, the same consisting in cutting off a portion of the plates 1 at one end thereof and in laying underneath the same any desired number of liners l9 and then again riveting the cut off portion of the plate to the channeled beams. By this means, as will at once be apparent, the two rails may be held securely in place with the treads of their abutting ends accurately alined in the same horizontal plane.

lVhile the accompanying drawings illus trate what I believe to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but that various changes may be made in the construction, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is 1. A sub-structure for railway crossings,

including a unit composed of trough-like side members spaced from each other and extending parallel to each other, trough-like bridging members bridging the space between said side members and connected thereto, and concrete filling all of said members, for the purpose specified.

2. A sub-structure for railway crossings, including a unit, comprising a pair of railsupporting plates arranged parallel and in spaced relation to each other, a pair of beams secured to each plate at the side edges thereof, plates bridging the space between the first named plates, beams secured to the second named plates, and corner braces securing the second named beams to the first named beams.

3. A sub-structure for railway crossings, comprising parallel rail-supporting plates arranged in spaced relation to each other, a pair of channeled beams secured to each plate at the margins thereof, stay-beams extending transversely of the plates at the ends thereof and secured thereto, and corner braces connecting the stay-beams with the first named beams.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAH P. DAY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

